I wish I didn’t love watching Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican convention so much. I love her hair. I love her outfit. I love that she is a great speaker even without a lot of time to train for the convention. I love her sort-of-Wisconsin accent that I sort-of hear myself getting the longer I live in Wisconsin.

I saw her husband hold the baby when she talked about family. I saw her husband give the baby away when she talked about how strong her marriage is. I saw the strain in his face when he smiled. He is a stay-at-home dad, and she didn’t mention that. He just quit his job after twenty years at work. She didn’t mention that.

I can relate to all of that.

I could follow yesterday’s post with a post clarifying my disdain for her. Believe me, I hate her politics. Her politics are so foreign to me that I don’t think I’ve ever even spoken in person with anyone who honestly believes rape victims should not get abortions.

But really, I’ve been like her. Like when she signed up for the PTA to make her kid’s school better. I tried that. It sucked. The lack of power and influence you have in the PTA sucks. It’s the tip of the iceberg of why it sucks to be at home with kids if you are a woman who is a leader — when there is no one to lead, but leading is in your DNA.

On some level, I admire her. I understand how women with big jobs and young kids manage: Compartmentalize, prioritize, multi-task. I am great at that stuff, and so are all the women I know who have big jobs and young kids.

But there is a spot about Palin as VP that mystifies me: Travel. In my life, I have found there is no way to have time with kids when you travel because there is no chance to carve out time; you’re just not there.

And you can’t average it out—kids don’t add up the cumulative time over a month. Maybe an older kid does, but not my three-year-old. Three days away from a three-year-old is a lot. Even for a three-year-old who is supposedly used to it, like mine. Every time (even now) when I’m gone, my husband, who is sort of my ex-husband but not yet, is right there, in the house, taking care of my sons. And it still feels bad for it not to be me.

So I love watching Palin because she makes me believe that I can handle all the travel I do. She is so pretty and capable and somehow, if I ignore that her daughter is pregnant and her husband is lost and her special needs child does not have a mom who is meeting the doctors and therapists and specialists involved in the child’s treatment. If I ignore that, I think that I can travel five times a month and not have a nervous breakdown from the sadness of leaving my kids.

I want to be that. I want to be the CEO who can travel all the time. Because I get invitations to travel to appear on TV, and to travel to deliver speeches, and to travel to wrangle investment in the company. And recently I have been that CEO: I traveled every week for twelve weeks, sometimes twice a week. And everyone said, how do you do it? And I said I don’t know. Because I didn’t know if I was pulling it off or pulling my family apart. I wasn’t sure.

And then I took a break. And when it was time to start traveling again, I had a panic attack. I was driving with my kids to the farm and I remembered how I would be traveling again and I started crying uncontrollably and I snapped at the kids and I drove the car to the farmer‘s house and told him to drive up and down the dirt road for a few minutes while I called my friend who is the only friend I know with both a venture-backed company and the mom responsibilities for a young child, and I told her I can’t do it anymore and she told me she doesn’t know why I didn’t have a breakdown earlier.

She said stop with the speeches and the media and the sky-high aspirations. And after a while I stopped crying and I said okay. And I got back in the car. And I drove to the farm. And we played with chicks and baby pigs and cooked over an open fire.

And then I resumed my travel schedule.

Because I am trying to figure out what’s right. And canceling everything is not what’s right for me. I did the PTA. It sucks. And I’ve done travel every week. It sucks. I don’t know how Palin will do it.

But part of me wants to watch. Will she take her baby? (I’ve done that. It’s impossible to focus.) Will she travel with a nanny? (Done that. It’s awkwardly intimate.) Will she cut back on travel? (Done that. People started doubting me.) What will she do? I want to see because I need some new ideas.

Comments (117)

Special needs mom/part-breadwinner here, coming out of the metaphorical woodwork to chime in:

I strongly believe that the analysis or balancing of the norms that applies to regular working mothers in the private setting doesn’t apply to those in public service. There has to be a moral imperative for public servants: work comes first. We assume that to be the case when a father takes office, and the same should be true for the mother. So we shouldn’t be musing about “how can she do it all”? She’s made a choice to serve and with that choice comes subordinating personal interest to public interest. So the answer is: she won’t be able to “do it all”, nor should she.

So, no, Penelope, you shouldn’t mine her experience for nuggets to apply to your life. You haven’t entered into that social contract. You’re on a different playing field – a challenging one – but very different from a normative perspective.

Wow this is a different perspective than yesterday. Now I am really uncertain what you think or what is the point. Based on two generations ago when I was a kid I still think kids deserve a mom who will put them second to their own needs sometimes and do a variety of things. I am glad my mom pursued some avenues that took her away from me and my sister sometimes. I would not want to hear now about all the things she missed on taking care of me.

Her intelligence, her views, her politics (good or bad)… that all comes secondary to her appearance? What is it with you?

You were outplayed and outsmarted at the PTA so you quit. And now what? You step up on your little soapbox and proclaim that it’s not you… the big ol’ PTA fight just “sucks” right?

You can’t relate to Palin. She didn’t get to where she is by giving up on her convictions, her views, her career, or anything. Giving up finds you in divorce, pointing the finger. Stop giving yourself away.

I guess you have a disdain for the Obamas as well. Both have been traveling incessantly for the last 18 months without their children. I’d like to see your post on Michelle Obama being an unfit mother.

Reading this post took me back 20 years to the days when I wanted so much professionally and it seemed impossible because I had two little kids. At some point, my husband and I agreed that he would do the PTA thing and the Room Father thing and be the one to leave work to take the kids to the doctor, and I would focus on the longer hours needed to succeed in my job. He was then and is now the support I need to accomplish what I am driven to accomplish.

Today, my husband, my kids and I have a very close relationship and they say that their Dad and I are both role models for them in making a family work in a nontraditional way. At 50, I feel that I have what I thought was impossible 20 years ago.

I very much appreciate your struggle and your courage to write about it.

I get this post more than any other you have written. I, too, struggle with that combination of wanting more than anything to be there nurturing my young young kids and the one who is there every night to hear the injustices of the playground, balanced with the desire to drive a career I invested the first 30+ years of my life before kids so that I can still make a difference. And travel is a disaster for young kids. I switched jobs trying to be home every night; I am still traveling and it’s still hard. There’s a lot of debate about working moms and choices but ultimately it is such a personal conversation, one that depends on your kids, on your partner, on your job, that there are no “right” answers but blog posts like this one that help you feel you are not alone.

I liked her outfit and her hair too. That’s what women do. I liked the speech too. I liked the joke, the delivery. I hate everything she stands for politically. But I’m fascinated with her.

Thanks for the posts. Keep blogging. I missed your posts when you took time off.

It doesn’t sound like Scorpio has ever been a member or leader of the PTA or any community group. Trying to lead a group of people with varying goals, skills and levels of commitment who are also volunteering their time is one of the most frustrating experiences I can think of.

What would be great is if Palin’s candidacy would focus our country on how hard it is to parent without adequate childcare when you have a demanding job. It’s even hard with good childcare as PT mentions. So many women I know have had to drop out of the workforce because they couldn’t do the juggling act anymore or their entire paycheck was going for daycare. Sarah should realize that this national discussion is way more relevant to the majority of women than making fun of Obama for being a community organizer.

Palin could conceivably take her kids with her, at least at times, with a tutor. But it doesn’t seem like recent VPs have traveled as much. Especially with so many domestic issues, she might be more of a homebody than past veeps.

Why don’t any of these conversations ever try to make a rational comparison of her current job to the vp position. I think that after the campaign season she may have a similar workload to the one she currently has. Its not like running a state is a 9 to 5 job.

Combine that with the staff she doesnt curently use that will be provided to her, and her newly homebodied husband. Sounds like it might be a pretty advantagous situation for her children seeing their parents more.

I honestly don’t know why I read your nonsense. You have multiple personalities and your thoughts are all over the map.

We get it – you love and admire Sarah Palin but since you don’t have the strength to keep a life style like hers then surely she must be a miserable failure?

Like the other posters I would to see this angle apllied to the Obama’s family.. but i guess thats not gonna happen.

Posted by More Trunk Nonsense
on September 5, 2008 at 3:11 pm
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I’m married. We have a 1 year old. We both work; and my job is pretty demanding and stressful. It is impossible to do it all. So I don’t. And I saw a therapist for 6 months twice a week and now I’m ok with it. When you try to do it all, you end up sucking at everything and you’re left with nothing – divorce, your kids don’t like you, and you get passed up for the promotion at work. I’m only 29, but I know enough women at the top to know that their path up there came with sacrifices that I personally could not make. Before I met my husband, work was my life and I was successful in my department. I barely managed to juggle both my then-boyfriend and work, typically with my then-boyfriend being 2nd and work 1st. I had to see a therapist because even though I loved my boyfriend more than work, I couldn’t stop spending more time at work (because I wanted to be CEO one day). And then we got pregnant and everything fell apart. Therapy and Penelope’s posts helped me. I learned that having a husband that truly loves me, and I mean TRULY TRULY loves me is the greatest prize of all. He loves me unconditionally – my boss/ company does not love me unconditionally. This country cannot come close to giving Sarah Palin the love and support her husband and children can. And therefore, it boggles my mind, why she would choose service over family.

I agree that the comparison needs to be made to the Obamas. However, she has 5 kids, one special needs, one pregnant (maybe that abstinence education wasn’t such a good idea)… this is difficult… are we being postfeminist?

I can’t believe that as a WOMAN she is against abortion even in the case of rape and incest. How barbaric to make a woman have to carry the child of a rapist for 9 months and then forever after! Most pro-life people (like myself) make that distinction- they believe abortion is wrong except in the case of rape or incest. This is the kind of ethical dilemma that will make your head explode, but I think the whole abortion debate is along those lines.

I fell in love with Sarah as well during her speech! The same way I fell in love with Obama. Now I’m really confused. Like many, I hate her politics.. but isn’t it refreshing to be able to disagree with someone without seeing them as a demon or a villain? I think we need more of that in America.

I think family is more important than anything. Why accept such a position at this time in her life? It’s not like she won’t have opportunities later. There are PLENTY of qualified people to do the job. At the convention speech, McCain sort of poked fun at Obama, when he said that bit about an individual believing they were anointed for this point in time to help heal the world… well if you don’t believe that, why pick the charismatic, popular Sarah Palin? Do we really believe she is the only one that can do the job? Of course not.. she will probably get McCain elected… but at what cost to her family? Why do we assume that our own career aspirations are more important than our family. There is a season for everything…. in some seasons of our lives, we have babies, other seasons our babies have grown up and moved away… we will never get that time back. NOt saying that every woman should stay home, but every woman should value the good things in her life- I don’t think anyone on their death bed said “I wish I would have spent more time at work furthering my career than raising my child”…

Not to idealize motherhood, because it’s a tough, TOUGH business. But that’s the nature of motherhood. WE make sacrifices, we do the best we can, we don’t actually believe that crap about us “having it all”… all it’s done for us is on top of being expected to raise kids, we have to have a career too. If we don’t, we’re a failure. But if we do work, we’re a bad mother.

There’s no way to win. So we do the best in our individual circumstances.

Yesterday’s post and today’s post should really be one post. They work much better together and now I understand with much more clarity why you are posting about Sarah Palin relative to your own experiences as a parent – not only a special needs parent. I am not a parent so I can not give you first hand advice but can understand how the travel issue is a major one for you and your family. As far as Sarah Palin is concerned, she will be traveling extensively until the election – no doubt about it. How much travel she will do and exactly her responsibilities if the Republicans are elected are unknown. Her job and the Republicans work is focused on energizing the conservative base and getting their ticket elected. I think it will be extremely hard for them – especially this year. I think they’ve considered the risks and plan to work through it one step at time. It is their decision to try for the election and ours to determine if they succeed.

This is a great post. I’m not sure I agree with you on everything, but I love it. Thanks!

I definitely agree about loving her outfit, and her confidence, and all that. She is really something, and if she were a character in a movie, I would be a fan. Of course, those qualities do not necessarily make her fit to participate in running the country.

A problem I see with this post: There is definitely a double standard here. You have not written about what kind of a dad the president is. We all know that for a lot of jobs, the family takes a huge hit, men or women. We just expect that. The president doesn’t spend a lot of time with his family. That’s what I expect from someone committed to public service: they make sacrifices in order to make the world a better place (for their kids and everyone’s).

So in theory, I think that this personal aspect of her life should be left out of the political arena. Sarah Palin probably doesn’t spend a ton of time with her kids, and that’s her choice. I DO think that if the Republicans are going to keep going on about family values, then it’s good that someone points out their shortcomings.

This post begs the questions you have asked about corporate culture: Do we as a country have reasonable expectations from public servants? Is our civil service structured in a way that officials are able to participate in family life? If not, does that restrict our pool of candidates? Could that be why there are so few women in government? Can we change it, and if so, how (perhaps looking at Sweden for a model)?

Who’s to say that her husband is lost just because he’s quit his job to take care of the kids. Granted, you’ve of course detailed your own account where that plan didn’t work out at all; but not all husbands are the same. Heck, some won’t get off the couch to look for work even as they’re being evicted. ;)

Do you actually think Palin is that bad of a mother or are you projecting your own view of yourself?

It looks like she finds time for them and they know they are loved. That combined with the opportunities her kids will now have speaks for her being a better parent than most.

There are a lot of parents out there (moms and dads) who don’t get to spend as much time as they would like with their kids (just go take a listen to “Cat’s in the Cradle”). Sometimes it’s not about the quantity, but the quality.

Don’t you get it? SP is just another shot of Mommy Porn — women will spend much more time wondering how she does it, particularly in terms of why we can’t do it with such supposed grace and style. We don’t see the mess behind the scenes, because there is a huge group of people in place to make sure that it doesn’t show. All we see is the results of the make-up artists, hairstylists, wardrobe people, speech writers, pr flacks, assistants, more assistants, and assistants to the assistants, who work together to make us think it is all effortless and that we are failing to do it. And, of course, she HAS to smile through it all and make it look fun and easy.

But, for the woman who denies that global warming is the result of human activity, it’s probably not that much of a stretch. She is denying much of reality already.

I meant to write “women will spend much more time secretly wondering how she does it, particularly in terms of why we can’t do it with such supposed grace and style, than they will seriously consider her stand on issues.” Particularly since she is so black and white on many of them, those who have already have a stand on abortion, sex ed, censorship, the environment, already know if they can support her or not.

It's time for some serious reflection. Sarah Palin has experience and is ready to be the potential occupant of the White House. How convincing is that statement? Let's examine some of that experience. When Palin was mayor of Wasilla, the population was approximately 7,000. The current mayor of Wasilla is also a woman, Dianne Keller. Would John McCain have considered her as a potential running mate? How many small town mayors across the country would consider themselves ready to become President of the United States? After serving as mayor for two terms, Sarah Palin moved up to become the Governor of Alaska. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the population estimate for the state is 670,053. In comparison the population of the State of Rhode Island is roughly double that of Alaska. Could it be that not all governors are equal? More importantly, could it be that not all experience is equal. If Sarah Palin had decided on her own to seek the office of President of the United States, how likely is it that she would have succeeded? During the recent Presidential Primaries both major parties fielded an array of highly qualified candidates. Anyone of which arguably would have been as qualified or more qualified to become President of the United States than Governor Palin. So what makes Sarah Palin qualified? She has yet to make a convincing argument. Ultimately her qualifications for the job need to be examined and we need to ask, "how and why did John McCain make this choice?" Furthermore, we the voters need to ask, "are we ready to entrust Sarah Palin with that level of responsibility?" John McCain may be ready to take the risk, but are we ready to take the risk?

Posted by Character Counts1
on September 5, 2008 at 5:38 pm
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In your quest to understand how you can have a career and a family too, Palin's candidacy was like a personal mid-term exam. Unfortunately, your answer was that there really isn't any solution to the problem. Given a husband who will stay home, both a household and a professional staff, and a family committed to her success, the conflicts between her home and her future job are still irreconcilable.

Perhaps that was more an emotional reaction than a considered opinion, but you –  rightly in my opinion –  got hammered for your answer. In essence, if you are able to look at someone else's situation and judge their competencies and choices then everyone else has a right to do the same to you. And they also have a right to do that to working dads. Where does that end?

Women are not magically more beneficial at home than men. Mothers and fathers are equally capable of being parents. And therefore if a man can be president with a supportive spouse, then so can a woman. Unless, of course, she can't deal with the guilt of being away, or she worries what other women will think, or she believes that having it all means doing it all. But none of those things are intrinsic to being a woman, they are intrinsic to being a PARTICULAR woman. These issues are not in your genes, they're in your mind.

When you have a child, there are ALWAYS trade-offs to be made. Even by staying home, as many thoughtful posters pointed out, we are making sacrifices which impact our children. Therefore the answer isn't that there isn't AN answer; the answer is that there are MANY answers and exactly none of them are cost-free.

Your blog was doing a good job of exploring these themes –  talking to CEO's, giving us insights to your own struggles, asking questions to get feedback from your readers –  that not only helped your readers, but I'm pretty sure yourself as well. I think you need to get back to that. Brazen Careerist isn't only for single twenty-somethings, it's ultimately about the lives all of us are trying to lead and the choices along the path we'll have to make.

I’m not a born leader, nor will I ever have kids, but even though I can’t relate, this is still one of the best posts you’ve written.

Is it anti-feminist to expect her spend more time with her family instead of wanting to be VP? If this is the career she desires, why did she have so many kids, one of which didn’t receive all the necessary parenting, another of will need extra too. Maybe her husband wants to stay home, but he feels he has to, otherwise he wouldn’t have waited 20 years to do it.

I wish she wasn’t such pretty political eye candy. She’s blinding the voters from seeing her awful (and anti-feminist) views.

I love your blog. I usually agree with almost everything you say. It makes me sad to think that women have this struggle still, and we’re told we can’t because of our children. I’m not a high payed executive. I’m a teacher. I work hard and feel guilty about not being home with my kids too. My husband brings them to school and is first on the emergency contact list if they get sick. Neither one of my girls is a special needs child. But, I do want to give my girls the best, and part of that is showing them that a woman can do it. I want them to see that a woman has a shot. I don’t agree with McCain and Palin’s politics, so I won’t vote for her.

Are you writing about yourself of Sara Palin? Is it possible that you really don’t believe Palin and her husband have the right to decide what is best for their family;that she can determine her own travel schedule? Do you think working on the PTA should “suck” for all of us? Are you suggesting that a stay at home dad is not enough for her kids? Gosh,you have even determined his face is strained–does that mean he is not up for the job of caring for his children because he is tired?
I would take a deep breath, and talk to your agent and investors and try to remember we are not voting for YOU.

Oh, I’m a fairly stern traditionalist myself, and I really do think that this stay-at-home dad is a pretty bad idea for the most part.

But I love Sarah Palin. She was my governor, and she was competent, businesslike, and respectable.

I think this all boils down to what “tribe” you belong to. Penelope doesn’t belong to Palin’s tribe– East Coast Jewish liberals have little in common philosphically with red-state whitebread conservative Christians.

Which is why the latter group (my own group,) ADORES her; she’s the embodiment of our own value system and culture during an election cycle in which we were beginning to feel altogether irrelevant. Feminism doesn’t have a whole lot to do with this… tribal affiliation does.

After a mediocre (at best) acceptance speech I still don’t know who she is. She wasn’t properly vetted and when the dirt on her hit the press everyone wanted to blame Obama and his supporters. And talking about keeping kids out of politics…Conservatives should practice what they preach! This woman has become more popular in less than a week than Obama and McCain. What does that say about the American People?…wow…People are raving about how much they love her, her kids, even her parents who, as far as I know…have only been shown once…in the audience at the RNC…What is going on?

I know part of the reason to blog is to open discussion on certain topics but I think people are dealing too harshly with you Penelope. Parenting is intensely personal. How each of us does it is an individual choice. None of the choices we make every day as parents are easy, and they become even more challenging when we’re forced to defend them. I choose to work because it makes me a better parent. That is something many advocates of stay at home parenting can’t understand just as I can’t understand their choice. I don’t have to, I have only to respect it. we can discuss the choices without personal attacks as it’s the only way to reach further understanding and maybe even help each other out.

Ok you just gave me goosebumps because I start my traveling bright and early Monday morning leaving the 4 boys with their dad. I’m nervous because I’ll be in NY for work–but my work is fun because it covers fashion and beauty, so I’ll be having fun and worrying that I am having too much fun and the kids are home. I’ll probably be in the middle of my panel at the HBA Expo talking about social media and wondering if the kids got to school on time, if they remembered to brush their teeth and if my husband let them eat junk for breakfast. Day one gone may be Ok, but by the end of day two, I may end up calling home several times. I’ll be gone for 4 days…and one of my kids are 4 and the other 1, how will they do without me? My 4 year old has already started telling me he is going to miss me. :(

But then other moms in business I know tell me to not talk about the kids because just like you said, people will starting doubting me and not call on me for a job that I am well suited for…just because I am a mom–kids are seen as baggage.

People talk all the time about the work life balance with moms, but I don’t really know anyone yet who has been successful at both.

“I don’t think I’ve ever even spoken in person with anyone who honestly believes rape victims should not get abortions.”

Perhaps we shall see each other at an ERE show.

Your fan,
Harry Joiner

PS – I am a sole-bread winner, self-employed, father-or-five with a special needs son. Married 16 years.

I debated leaving this comment, but I thought about it overnight and felt the need to point out that just as “there is no such thing as being a little bit pregnant,” one either subscribes to the idea that “life begins at conception” or one doesn’t.

I happen to subscribe to that idea.

Once I committed to that belief, I began to understand that the babies are the true victims of abortion, regardless of the circumstances under which they are conceived.

Clearly rape and incest are tragic, but they don’t change the logic above.

But I hope with all my heart that the questions you pose about how Sarah will cope will be moot and that we will never find out. Her candidacy is insulting to the American people and to women in particular.

Just for the record, I know two people who are wonderful, caring, highly valued members of our community … both of whom were the children of rape. Was it hard for their moms? Yes. But the benefits of their moms doing what was right have been incalculable, both to the moms and to society at large.

Aborting babies conceived in rape/incest is not the best solution to this difficult situation.

I think everyone who has this idiotic idea that women shouldn’t have the right to abortion, even in the case of rape or incest, should be forced to adopt one of these kids that they force a woman to have. Then let’s see how they feel about having no choice in the matter–these righteous, compassionate people, most of whom have never had to deal with the consequences of unwanted pregnancy first- or even second-hand. Yeah, it’s an equally idiotic idea–and it would serve them right. I chose to keep my kid from an unintended high school pregnancy, and I love and adore him, but no way would I presume to make that decision for someone else. Choice is fundamental, and not just about abortion.

As for you, Penelope, I hope you don’t mean that you want Palin to actually *win* the vice-presidency so you can watch how she handles it all, at the expense of your stated political beliefs. It would be a disaster for women in general. I’m sure she’ll remain in the spotlight, just as ambitious as she is today, so you can watch her all you want without her having to screw up the lives of millions of people with her hateful politics. And when I say hateful, I don’t just mean her pro-life, pro-creationism, pro-gun politics–the stuff I hate, but support her right to espouse and believe in, though not to legislate–I mean the bilious attack she launched against the half of America that doesn’t agree with her. That divisive, “you’re the enemy and if we win then we don’t have to take you into account, period, haha” politics is destroying this country. It doesn’t have to be that way, but people like Palin seek to perpetuate and even escalate this “war”–their term for it. We’ve had enough of war-mongers in office.

Actually, I’m thinking living in the VP mansion on the grounds of the Naval Observatory, with all the benefits, perks and help being “a heartbeat away from the Presidency” (though I prefer to think of it as “an ANEURISM away from the Presidency”) would be better than even the best of situations in ALASKA.

Don’t mean to insult that wild, beautiful state (I would LOVE to travel there someday), but seriously, how could being VP of the US be worse for her family than living there. The job is primarily ceremonial, and sure, it’s busy, but it’s not the Presidency. I’m just a male Dad speaking here, but I’d think it would be better.

I lived and worked in DC for several years and pretty much anything you need for a child, special or otherwise, given the support and money (which she most certainly will have ample supplies of both) I think those kids will be fine.

racists, antisemites and terrorists? huh? is that what the GOP is pushing in their “talking points” for the party faithful these days? will this b.s. ever end? have a little respect for yourself, man–and i mean this sincerely. you’re smarter than this. don’t let them bamboozle you with this insulting crap. if you have real objections to obama’s policies and political beliefs, etc., fine. but don’t let them suck you into their conspiracy theories and fact-free rumormongering. you’re smarter than that, you really are, and they’re treating you as thought you were a zombie puppet.

Your Democrats voted overwhelmingly to authorize killing a baby who survives an abortion. That trumps making the victim of rape bear her child – she could always give the child up for adopotion. I thought liberals cared about the helpless and unprotected.

> Wow this is a different perspective than
> yesterday. Now I am really uncertain what you
> think or what is the point.

The point is P needs to identify with important people in order to feel powerful (or even adequate). So she zeroes in on all these stupid details about the person who someday could have her finger on the button of the nuclear football. It’s called Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Look it up and read about it. Describes P to a T.

“racists, antisemites and terrorists? huh? is that what the GOP is pushing in their “talking points” for the party faithful these days? will this b.s. ever end? have a little respect for yourself, man – and i mean this sincerely. you’re smarter than this. don’t let them bamboozle you with this insulting crap. if you have real objections to obama’s policies and political beliefs, etc., fine. but don’t let them suck you into their conspiracy theories and fact-free rumormongering. you’re smarter than that, you really are, and they’re treating you as thought you were a zombie puppet.”

rev wright, Farrakhan, ayers…… the facts are there. his associations with these people are long and well documented. this speaks volumes about his beliefs.

the difference between hillary and mccain is marginal at the end of the day. 0bama is a problem that no one can afford to have.

Your Democrats voted overwhelmingly to authorize killing a baby who survives an abortion. That trumps making the victim of rape bear her child – she could always give the child up for adopotion. I thought liberals cared about the helpless and unprotected.

I appreciate your perspective, but not your lefty politics.

One question for you, Evie: How many children have you adopted?

If your answer is even only one, you have the right to rant. Otherwise, STFU.

It’s easier to label Obama as a racist, terrorist and anti-semite than it is to say “I can’t possibly vote for a black man.” It’s a convenient excuse for racists to keep hating him.

I am a white Jewish woman. I am voting Obama wholeheartedly. As is my entire family, half of which is Republican (my father is a precinct captain). The reaction of the country to Sarah Palin terrifies me. It confirms that most men still want women barefoot and pregnant.

”
rev wright, Farrakhan, ayers – – the facts are
> there. his associations with these people are
> long and well documented.

Then post some links. You’re still evading the question.”

you’re at your computer. use google. there is much information. judge for yourself yeah or neigh but do you’re own homework. and pretending not to be aware of these issues is ridiculous. are you 8 years old? need someone to wipe your ass as well?